Beauty of race-course at Asááyi leaves runners breathless

CAMP ASÁÁYI, N.M.

Andy Yazzie has always been familiar with the Asááyi area.

He and his father spent many days fishing Asááyi Lake, but last weekend he ditched his fishing pole and took to the trails to see what more the Chuska Mountains had to offer in the Asááyi Mountain Runs.

Yazzie placed first in the 20K race that was held in conjunction with a 10K race at the Bowl Canyon recreation area.

He said the area was known as his father’s favorite fishing spot, but after the race it became something more.

“It was an awesome course,” Yazzie said. “To be honest, this might be the funnest race I’ve ever ran, just because of the view, the mountains, and the soft-packed dirt.”

Yazzie, 33, finished the 20K in 1 hour, 29 minutes, but the former Navajo Technical University cross-country coach said he was just looking for a good run.

“The course is really challenging,” he said. “I was just looking for a good, hard workout and that’s what I got – it was perfect.”

The races were part of the Navajo Parks Race Series, a series of runs and mountain bike races held throughout parks on the Navajo Nation. The Series was put together by the NavajoYES non-profit organization that sets out to expose Navajo people to more outdoor sporting activities.

Following shortly behind Yazzie was Amanda Rosenburg, who finished first in the 20K women’s category. Rosenburg finished the race in 2:03:00.

She said it was her second year participating in the race series.

“It was good, it was fun,” she said. “I like to run in places that you normally don’t get to run, so it was pretty, new stuff to look at.”

---